I just took delivery on a 2017 Q7 3.0L Prestige with the factory installed towing package (2" hitch receiver and 7 pin harness connector). I love the vehicle, but one reason for selecting it was the ability to tow my small camper trailer.

The trailer is a Forest River R-Pod RP-179, which is 20' long, weighs 2,800 lb. empty, and has a gross loaded weight of 3,800 lb. I estimate my loaded trailer weight to be 3,600 lb. and the hitch weight to be 380 lb. My Q-7 is rated to tow up to 7,700 lb. and the manual says the allowable hitch weight is up to 770 lb. So far, so good...

BUT, The manual specifically says to NOT use a Weight Distribution hitch because the additional torque they put into the hitch receiver (to shift load from the rear axle to the front axle and help level out the vehicle) risks failure of the hitch receiver and it could detach from the vehicle! Yikes.

BUT, there's more: The factory hitch receiver has a sticker on it that says that the center of the hitch ball must be no farther than 6.2" behind the center of the clevis pin (which holds the ball mount in the receiver). There are essentially no standard ball mounts on the market which are this short!! Most are significantly longer than this to allow height adjustment and/or the use of weight distribution and anti-sway bars. After researching further, I found an Audi made ball mount (p/n 4L0092770U) which is specified for use on late model Q5's and Q7's', which is apparently within the 6.2" limit and I have ordered it online.

My prior vehicle, a Ford F-150 truck towed the R-Pod with ease. I probably didn't need a W/D hitch with the truck, but I had it set up with a Blue Ox sway-pro weight distribution hitch (Fantastic design, I highly recommend it versus other W/D hitches on the market). Most RV experts recommend the use of a W/D hitch to balance the vehicle and trailer and enable the use of anti-sway devices. I have towed small and large trailers tens of thousands of miles, and agree with this advice. So I am very disappointed that Audi would design a factory hitch receiver for a vehicle capable of towing 7,700 lb., but it can't use a weight distribution hitch, and can't use a ball mount longer than 6.2" to allow any height adjustment. In my opinion, any trailer that weighs 7,700 lb. really should only be towed with a weight distribution hitch and should always allow height adjustment to get the trailer level.

I am hoping my trailer is light enough that I won't need a weight distribution hitch. And even more lucky, my R-Pod trailer hitch height matches the height of the Q7 receiver (about 16" above the ground), so I won't need an adjustable height ball mount (which would violate Audi's 6.2" length limit). So, I am hoping I'll be okay with this trailer.

Of course, some of you will tell me I should have purchased the optional air suspension on my Q7. I probably would have if I had known all this beforehand....

So after all this, I am very interested in other forum members input on this subject. What are you towing with your Q7? What type of hitch do you use and what are your recommendations? Thanks

 

Wow. Sounds like you are on the same path as me. I just purchased a 2017 Q7 with the tow package - no air suspension. I intend to tow an rpod. I was aware you could not use a WD hitch - I'm ok with that as the Rpod should be fine. I've seen pictures of the rpod on several smaller SUV's and the vehicle seems pretty level. However, while I can't use a WD hitch, I do plan on adding anti-sway bars. My biggest problem now is getting a brake controller installed. The dealership doesn't seem to care about helping. Installing a brake controller doesn't look like a huge deal - but I have yet to determine how to remove the appropriate lower dash parts in order to get to the brake controller pigtail. How are you addressing the installation of a brake controller?

 

Glad to hear someone else is looking into this. I hitched up my R-Pod this weekend for the first time using the Audi ball mount (p/n 4L0092770U) I purchased from an Audi dealer. The hitch height is just about perfect for the R-Pod, thank goodness, because I see no way to adjust the hitch height without violating Audi's requirements for the factory hitch. All the trailer lights worked perfectly when the trailer electrical harness was plugged into the Audi factory 7-pin connector. I also confirmed the 7 pin connector is supplying 12 volts to charge the trailer battery while going down the road.

I took the trailer out for a drive, being very careful because I don't have a brake controller yet, and it towed beautifully! Very smooth, no pitching or swaying. In some respects, it felt more comfortable towing the R-Pod than my 2013 Ford F-150! I haven't fully broken in the Audi engine yet (only 500 miles) so I only took the trailer up to 50 mph. I'm an experienced RV'er, so I know the real test for how well it tows will be at highway speed and in windy conditions to see whether it shows any tendency to sway. Based on how well it towed in my first drive, I'm not sure I'll need an anti-sway bar. But if I do, I found a Reese sway control bracket on etrailer.com (p/n RP26003) which could be mounted onto the Audi ball mount (might require some hacksaw trimming to fit). With this bracket, you can then attach a traditional anti-sway friction bar, such as p/n 83660 on etrailer.com. Pretty simple.

As for the brake controller, yeah, that's my next big challenge. I haven't looked under the dash yet, and I'm not surprised to hear it's difficult to get under the dash to access the wiring. And once in there, I'm sure it will be a challenge to figure out how to tap into the wiring for 12v power, brake switch sensor and the brake signal wire that runs back to the 7 pin connector by the hitch.
So.....one option I am considering is the Tekonsha Prodigy wireless brake controller. It's more expensive than a conventional brake controller, but it doesn't require any under-dash wiring! Just like a conventional brake controller, it senses the vehicle braking g-forces and applies trailer brakes proportionally. And note: It does NOT rely on wireless signals for normal braking. The wireless signal is only used to set the system up or to manually override the amount of desired braking using a handheld controller inside the vehicle. Like the other items mentioned above, it is available at etrailer.com p/n 90250. Looking forward to hearing your feedback.

 

Good to hear the Audi ball works - that may be my next purchase. Also good to hear about you mini test tow - good news. I really want to go with a wired brake controller - so I need to figure out the under-dash install. I've seen instructions on the internet for removing the footwell panel - but those appear to be for pre-2017 models. 2017 model must have changed and don't match any of the directions on the net. I talked with a local MobileOne store and they are willing to install the brake controller. if I can't figure out how to remove the panel(s) myself, I will probably try them. From what I have seen on the internet, you need a connector adapter and a set of wire plugs - all VW/Audi parts. I ordered those from my local VW dealership (Audi dealer said they couldn't get the parts for months). I'm probably going with the Tekonsha Primus. Lets keep each other posted - as we are headed down the same path.

 

I was able to find and route the brake controller pigtail. I still haven't hooked up my brake controller - need to buy it first. But I wanted to see if I could find and route the brake controller pigtail. See this video - .

 

Dhilbe - You are the man. I just saw your YouTube video on how to access the factory brake controller harness by only removing 2 screws from the dashboard. Thank you so much for figuring this out!
The harness looks correct to me, because it has 4 connections, which is what brake controllers need: 1) 12V plus voltage, 2) Ground, 3) Vehicle brake pedal signal, and 4) Trailer brake wire which runs from the pigtail harness all the way to the back of the vehicle to the factory 7 pin connector next to the hitch.
Vehicle manufacturers normally sell custom brake controller plug-in harnesses specific to their vehicle model. I haven't see any info that such a harness is offered by Audi, although there might be a more easily acquired equivalent harness made by VW (for the Touareg). But even if no factory plug & play harness is available, we can manually splice into the 4 wires of the pigtail you found. Just need a little investigation with a multi-meter to identify each of the 4 wires in the pigtail harness I described above. Any good brake controller, such as any progressive braking model from Tekonsha can be wired with the 4 connectors described above and mounted under the dash. You shouldn't need to run any wires to the fuse box as you mentioned in the video. You should only need to plug into or splice into the harness you pulled down under the dash.
Once you purchase your brake controller: Make sure where you mount the brake controller is both easy to see & reach while driving, but also has clearance for you knee!

 

Take a look at the attached PDF document. It lists the adapter connector from VW/Audi. I picked these parts up from my local VW dealership. I'm assuming this is what I need to connect the brake controller cable to the brake control pigtail under the dash.

 

I know you already purchased your adapter connector and wires (as did I), but today I found a better solution on e-Bay: A ready-made adapter harness for 2017 Audi Q7 (and older models as well) which plugs directly into the harness plug you found under the Audi dashboard, and the other end plugs directly into Tekonsha brake controllers. This requires no wire splicing and is completely plug & play. So.....I went ahead and ordered it today.
They have 2 versions: A regular harness as described above, and the same harness prewired with a relay (recommended for use with Tekonsha P3 in Audi installations).

VW Touareg Plug and Play Trailer Brake Control Harness Audi Q7 Porsche Cayenne | eBay

 

That is good to know. Which brake controller are you going with.

 

I purchased a Tekonsha P3, and also purchased the eBay harness recommended for the P3 which includes a relay. Waiting for both to arrive.
I originally planned to purchased a Tekonsha P2, but instead purchased the P3 because it has a customizable screen display. I saw an online review for the P2 where a customer complained about the bright blue LCD display. He said it can be very annoying for night driving. I'm not sure if the display is on all the time when not towing. So I just went with the P3 which looks like it has a lot more options for the display.